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Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart - Guitar Lesson

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Key A major
Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart guitar lesson video
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Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
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Yes Pop Rock A major
Capo Advisor 0 A major · Original key

About Owner of a Lonely Heart

Trevor Rabin wrote the core of this track, and his guitar fingerprints are all over it. The song opens with one of the most recognizable guitar figures of the 1980s: a choppy, syncopated single-note riff in A major that locks tightly into the drum machine groove at 117 BPM. Getting that riff to sit right demands clean fretting and precise muting, because any extra string noise will stick out against the tight, produced backdrop. The chorus layers in bigger, fuller chords, so you need to shift your right-hand feel between the clipped staccato of the verse and the open, ringing hits of the chorus. In E Standard tuning everything sits comfortably on the guitar, but the timing is less forgiving than it sounds. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse riff slowed down until the muting and the syncopation feel automatic before bringing it back up to tempo. Yes pulled off a rare trick here, merging Pop Rock sheen with prog-band chops, and that tension lives right in the guitar part.

  • The signature verse riff is built on muted, syncopated single notes in A major and must be played with tight palm or fret-hand muting to match the original tone.
  • Trevor Rabin handled guitar duties on this track, bringing a hard-rock edge to Yes that differed sharply from the band's earlier twin-guitar work.
  • At 117 BPM in E Standard tuning, the riff sits at a moderate tempo that feels easy until you try to nail the staccato precision it requires.

How to Play Owner of a Lonely Heart

The song moves through: Intro, Guitar Intro, Straight riff, Verse explanation, Main verse, Fill, Chorus, 2nd verse, Bridge explanation, 1st bridge, Solo patch explanation, Solo, and more.

Tuning: E Standard · Key: A major · Tempo: 117 BPM

The arrangement runs through 12 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 117 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Trevor Rabin modified Stratocaster-style instruments during the 90125 era for high-gain lead work and clean neck pickup passages. The versatile pickup configuration allowed him to switch between aggressive distorted tones and articulate clean sounds without changing guitars.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Steve Howe used the 1955 Fender Telecaster for brighter, country-tinged passages that contrasted with his ES-175's warmth. Its cutting single-coil tone added textural variety to Yes's complex arrangements.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Trevor Rabin favored the Gibson Les Paul for its thick humbucker output and sustain, essential for the compressed, high-gain 90125 tones driven through Marshall amplifiers. The guitar's weight and resonance provided the chunky rhythm foundation that defined that era.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Les Paul's dual humbuckers delivered the aggressive, sustained lead tones Trevor Rabin needed during the 90125 period. Its premium construction enhanced sustain and note definition even when pushed through heavily overdriven Marshall and Mesa/Boogie preamps.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Trevor Rabin ran his custom guitars through Marshall JCM800 heads for the high-gain, compressed sustain that defined 90125's tight, punchy 80s guitar sound. The amp's legendary crunch preserved note definition even when driven hard for thick distortion.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Steve Howe relied on the Fender Twin Reverb's clean headroom and natural reverb to preserve the warm, articulate tones of his ES-175 hollow-body. Its dynamic response complemented his fingerstyle technique and minimal effects approach.

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